Chinese Car Sales Continue Tepid Growth, Japanese Continue To Hurt

Bertel Schmitt
by Bertel Schmitt

Auto sales in China rose 10.88 percent in March to 2,035,100 units, data of the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers show. Analysts expected a more robust rise after sales grew 15 percent in the January-February period.

Japanese car sales in China continue to suffer from the toxic fallout of the island dispute. Sales of Japanese-branded cars were down 14.1 percent in March and 16 percent for the first three months of the year.

Bertel Schmitt
Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.

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 4 comments
  • Onyxtape Onyxtape on Apr 11, 2013

    Sometimes Asian advertising just sounds so juvenile when translated into English. "Toyota - When a car arrives at a hill, there must be a road. Where there is a road, there must be a Toyota." Even as a native Chinese speaker, it just sounds plain dumb.

  • CelticPete CelticPete on Apr 11, 2013

    That's better then the US favorite "It's grounded to the ground." Haha. Also 10.88 percent growth strikes me as very good.

  • Lorenzo Lorenzo on Apr 11, 2013

    I'm just wondering if the Chinese government is still stoking the anti-Japanese sentiment, or did the Senkaku/Diaoyu standoff expose some deeper anti-Japanese feeling nobody knew was there?

    • MrWhopee MrWhopee on Apr 12, 2013

      They (the Chinese) is probably still steaming about the Rape at Nanking. Massacre seem to have that effect on people. Just look at how the Jew still feels about the Holocaust even today.

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